A Fresh Start
by buffy1242
Summary: When Buffy ran away at the end of season 2 after killing Angel, she didn't go to LA. This is her story from then on. AU from end of Season 2 of Buffy, Buffy makes a new life for herself in DC. Have changed some details in the Buffy universe to fit how I want the story to go.
1. Chapter 1

I watched them from behind the tree. I know they were looking around for me, but I just couldn't bring myself to walk up to them. I was scared. I was scared of what their reactions to me would be, I was scared they would hate me, but most of all I was scared that they would forgive me and tell me everything would be alright. I Buffy Summers, was scared of whatever reaction my friends and family had to me killing Angel. I took one last look at them and walked away.

I had enough money to get me somewhere other than Sunnydale. Where that somewhere would be was a totally different story. I thought about going to LA, I knew the city, it would be familiar, but that also presented the problem of my father. I wasn't sure I wanted to see him, accidently or on purpose.

I could travel a little further. I remember once Giles telling me to trust my Slayer senses so I figured I would take a bus east and the Slayer in me would tell me when to stop. Worst came to the worst I would end up in New York City and as that was about as far away from Sunnydale as one could get on the continental US I was happy with a destination-less trip.

The bus station at LA was quite at 7.30 at night and thankfully the next bus east was leaving in half an hour, so I bought a ticket.

I dozed on and off on the bus keeping aware of my surroundings while trying to sleep a little. I ended up being fully awake at 6am even though we were barely out of California. The bus trip itself was supposed to take 6 days to NY. There were stops in between though through the major cities. During one of the half hour breaks in Arizona I stopped at the market and bought enough food so that I only had to leave the bus when I needed a bathroom break.

I watched passengers come and go on the bus but my slayer senses never felt anything. Until day 4.

The morning of day 4 I woke up feeling something different. Something was unusual, I was suddenly anxious but I didn't know why. It sort of felt like it was saying, "almost there." I decided that I was trusting my Slayer instants and made sure everything was packed enough that I could get off the bus when I was packed enough that I could get off the bus when I was ready. I spent time on the bus anxious and on alert for when I would be getting off. I followed the map I had in my head, wondering idly if maybe I would be getting off in Washington, DC.

On the morning of day 5 I knew I was getting off soon. The minute I hit the outskirts of DC I knew I was where I was supposed to be, I just didn't know why I was supposed to be there.

I got off the bus, collected my bag and was thankful for 2 things. 1) that I had always saved half my rather large allowance in an account neither of my parents knew about as it meant that I had money and they couldn't track me, and 2) that it was 8am so I could explore the city before I had to find somewhere to sleep for the night, work to earn money and a place to live permanently for as long as I was here.

I wondered around the city. It was the beginning of summer here so to the locals it was a nice day and they seemed to be out en mass, to me it was freezing and the same temperature as the dead of winter in southern California.

I bought a newspaper and sat down at a little café while looking at the renters section. I made a note of three that seemed within my budget for the next couple of months at least. I still needed to find a job to support this place where I was going to live or else what I had in savings was going to run out very quickly.

I was scanning the jobs section when the waitress came out bringing me my drink. She noticed what I was looking at.

"Are you looking for a job?" she asked.

"Yes." I told her nodding "I'm new in town. You wouldn't happen to have any suggestions on where to start would you?" I asked hopefully.

"Yep." She smiled at me. "Here. You know anything about waitressing?"

"A little. I used to help out the caterer at big events when we hosted them at the gallery."

" Hosted big events?" She questioned.

Oops. Me and my big mouth. I didn't want to mention home.

"My Mom owned a gallery back home." I told her hoping that was enough of an explanation.

She nodded and smiled at me.

"That's good enough for me. You're hired!" she told me happily.

"Seriously?" I questioned somewhere between happy and wary.

"Yep. You lucked out when I came to give you this. I own this place. Come with me and we shall fill out the paperwork. I'm Shelly by the way."

"Buffy." I told her.

I was very grateful to Shelly for the job and was also suddenly very grateful to Willow for showing me a little ID glamour ages ago when we were playing around with magic. While I was happy being Buffy in my new city, I no longer wanted to be Buffy Summers. I also needed to be over 18 to not only get a job in a café and rent a place on my own but it also helped with unwanted questions as to why I was alone and where my parents are. The glamour also had the ability to create a new identity within the governmental system that provided new social security numbers for me and other important stuff like that.

My glamour made me Buffy Rose Tabbia. I was 19 from Seattle, Washington. That was enough to throw people off my scent for a while.

After I left the café (and after I got Shelly to mark it on a map for me so I would be able to find it again.) I found a nearby hotel that wasn't too dodgy and booked a week's stay. This was going to take a decent chunk of my savings but I needed somewhere to stay.

I made a couple of phone calls looking into more permanent living arrangements and made appointments for tomorrow morning. It was now 3.30 in the afternoon and I knew that I needed to take on the lay of the land in DC tonight. Find the demon bars, and who controls them. I needed to let the right demons know that the slayer was in town and that she was going to change things around this city.

However until it got dark I had more pressing issues, like eating. I also needed to find a map to point me towards a cemetery where could hopefully find tonight a vampire that could give me the lay of the land and tell me a few things I need to know.

I took out the map that Shelly had marked the café on, and marked where the hotel was on it. It was only a little tourist map so I needed to find a bigger map, which would tell me cemeteries and would hopefully have the local hangouts that I was planning on finding out from the locals.

I found a market about 4 blocks away from the hotel, just on the edge of the map. It had everything I needed including a map of the greater DC area. I was all set for tonight and thus decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up from my nap about 8.30 at night. It was a little early to head out on patrol, so I spent some time figuring out what to take with me on patrol. I figured a rather large knife and 'Mr Pointy' would be enough, though I was very aware that if something went wrong that I wouldn't have anyone to call for back-up, not even Giles. That thought blindsided me for a minute, as he had always been there for me.

I realised that I missed him. Life just wasn't the same without a Giles to go to for information on the current baddy. I just really hoped that I wouldn't come up against anything that I would need his help for.

At 9pm on the dot I stepped out of my hotel room, a place in mind and a map in my head of where I was headed to the nearest civilian cemetery. I didn't thinking going to a military burial ground was such a good idea when I didn't know the what was going on. Vamps that knew the moves was a slightly terrifying thought that I just didn't want to entertain.

I took it a slow place to the cemetery and it took me about half an hour. I'll admit that I had hoped to come across something a little sooner so I could head to the nightlife, but I was disappointed that I hadn't come across anything yet.

There was a handy little map at the entrance to the cemetery that showed me the layout. It showed me that there was an inner circle and an outer circle to the plots and I knew that I would have to do two circuits to get a feel for the place and see exactly what was going on.

During my first circuit I wasn't disappointed in the vamps ability to make a cemetery a meeting place. I found three vamps initiating a newbie that they must have turned last night. Showtime. Putting on my best blonde impression I walked straight into their group. Nothing beats a good damsel in distress act to gain a vamps attention.

I walked straight into one of the vamps, purposely not the newbie and looked up startled.

"Oops. Sorry." I said in my best Californian accent. "I'm a little lost; I wasn't looking where I was going."

The vamps smiled and I swear I could see their eyes light up.

"We can help you if you like." Vamp number one told me. He was obviously boss of these ones.

"We'd be happy to take you where you wanted to go." Vamp number two interrupted.

"Or you could come with us for dinner?" Vamp number three added on.

I rolled my eyes. So predictable.

"Actually I have better plans." I told them suddenly losing that damsel vibe and putting on a kick ass one.

The eyes of all 4 vamps widened as I pulled out 'Mr Pointy' and threw it towards the newbie getting him right in the heart.

The other three put their game faces up quickly and started to attack. I bounced over to where 'Mr Pointy' laying in a pile of ash and grabbed it while almost instantly putting it into vamp number three's heart. That took care of the two lowest members in the gang. Now I just needed some information from the high up members.

They didn't seem to be so accommodating.

While I got some good punches in in my fight with the two of them, they were also on their game and got in a lot of good punches as well.

We were on about an even footing in terms of fighting when I suddenly heard a new voice.

"Hey! Leave her alone." This voice shouted at them.

Great. I thought, now I have to make sure the human doesn't get killed.

However annoying it was to now have to watch out for the human, it gave me a great opportunity to take out vamp number two. I shoved 'Mr Pointy' straight into his heart watched happily as he turned to dust.

I didn't have time to worry about the human as I rounded on vamp number one.

"I am actually a little lost. You want to help me before I do to you what I did to your friends?"

The vamp actually chuckled at me.

"I just need to know where the locals hang out here. Come on, give me a name."

"I will never," Vamp number one snarled at me. "never tell you about The Talisman."

I laughed. "Thanks."

The vamp snarled at me again. Then he lunged at me again.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone." The human piped up again, and before I knew it between trying to dodge the vamps assaults a random 'Mr Pointy' came out of nowhere and went straight into his heart.

I blinked.

"You have a stake?" I asked the random man that was standing in front of me.

"Yep. I like to come here at night, and it's always best to have one on hand in places like this." He told me.

"You knew they were Vamps when you came over?" I asked still completely dumbstruck.

"Of course. Though I probably would have come over anyway, I'm a Fed."

I blink at him. "Huh?"

"Federal Investigator, you know like FBI?"

"You're FBI?" I squeaked at him.

Just what I needed, the FBI looking into me.

"NCIS."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I wasn't going to post Chapter Three up until I had written more and had more chapters finished, but I thought that in celebration of 10 follows I should give the 10 of you something happy. Also, I know how annoying it is to wait for chapters to come, so I decided that even though this is a short chapter, you shall have some BTVS/NCIS goodness! **

NCIS? I'd heard of that before. Why had I heard of that before.

From Xander, after that military man Halloween.

"You're a Navy cop?" I asked still confused.

"You know what NCIS is?" he asked. It was now his turn to be confused. Finally.

"A friend told me once." I told him. "So what are you doing in a cemetery late at night if you weren't looking for a fight?"

"I come when I can't sleep. Visit my wife and daughter."

That answer stopped me in my tracks.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." I told him sincerely. Losing people was hard, I should know. Flashes of Kendra and Angel came to mind and I pushed them back as soon as I could.

"Don't be. It was a long time ago." He told me, though I could hear a little sadness in his voice. "Why were you here if you weren't visiting someone? Were you looking for a fight?"

"That was the idea." Though I could barely see his face in the dark I noted the disapproving frown that came across his face.

"Seriously?" he asked, and I could tell he was kind of gobsmacked that I freely admitted to that.

"Yep, just got into town this morning and need to know about the local nightlife if I want to survive here long. I only really wanted information though, on the local demon bar. Killing them was just a bonus."

I saw him look me up and down.

"This is your job isn't it? I don't know why I think that, but you seem to know what you're doing and the way you're going about it shows me that this isn't something that you want to do, you have to do it."

I sighed. "Yeah. It is. I'm the Slayer." I told him.

"Slayer?" He asked.

Obviously when he had been introduced to the vamp world nobody had told him about slayers.

"One girl in all the world with the strength and speed to stop the oogly-boogly's."

"Oogly-Booglys? That a technical term?" he laughed, though I could tell it was just his way of coping at this point.

"Yep." I announced proudly.

We stood there for a moment, looking at each other whilst both pretending that we didn't notice us each looking the other over, judging the other.

"You want to go grab a coffee, find somewhere warmer so that I can ask unlimited questions on what exactly a slayer is?"

I laughed, the first time in days. "Wow, that sounds appealing. Sure." I told him.

My slayer instinct was telling me I could trust him, and I knew he wasn't a vamp so I could take him easily if it came to that.

"Come on, follow me. Do you have a car here?"

"Nope." I told him.

"Okay, do you mind if I drive you to my favourite coffee shop? It's not far from here and will still be open."

"Sure. I think I've proven that if you try anything bad then I can take you in a fight." I told him smiling.

He chuckled at me. "I'll show you my badge and ID in the car, that way you can know for sure I'm a cop."

"Awesome."

We walked to his car.

"I'm Jethro by the way." He told me.

"Buffy." I replied.

We both had laughter in our eyes as we regarded each other's names


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: If you have been looking at my profile then you will have realised that I will only be updating this story once a week. I have many other obligations and writing commitments, that coupled with starting my own business has left me little time for updates, therefore I am trying to schedule everything into a week so that everyone who reads my writing will get at least one update a week. I am thrilled that you are all enjoying my story; I have about 5 more chapters written in preparation for uploading. Please keep following the story and all your support is appreciated. **

We reached his car and we both got in. I could tell immediately he was a cop from his car, but I got further proof as he handed me his badge before he started the car and drove off.

I didn't pay too much attention to where we were going until he pulled into a familiar car park.

"Seriously? I asked, "We're going here for coffee?"

"Yep. Why?"

"I got a job here this morning." I told him.

"Really? How long have you been in town?" he asked me.

I looked down at my watch. It was 11pm.

"About 15 hours." I tell him as we get out of the car and walk towards Shelly's café.

"Really?" He seems shocked at how long I've been here.

"Yep. Though I was on a bus 5 days before that."

He holds open the door for me as we step inside the café. I can see he is processing that information; like a FED.

We walk to the counter and I see Shelly. I wave hello.

"It's good to see you again." She tells me.

I smile back. "This is Jethro. He saved me and now wants to interrogate me. Jethro, this is Shelly. My new boss, well she will be when I start work here on Tuesday."

"Welcome." Shelly tells him, though I can see she is wondering about what exactly I meant.

Jethro smiles at her, and then rattles off an order like he does it all the time. I add mine in too and we pay, then go find an out-of-the-way table in one corner of the café so we can have a semi-private chat about Slayers.

As soon as we sit down Jethro starts questioning me.

"Where are you from?" he asks first.

I blanch a little. Do I tell him my real story or my fake story. I decide I don't know him well enough currently and althrough my slayer senses say he is trustworthy, I'm not willing to risk my first friend (or non-hostile acquaintance) in Washington, DC.

"I'm from Seattle." I tell him.

He studies my features in depth trying to see if I'm lying. He relaxes when he realises that I'm not as far as he can tell. I almost feel bad at that point about lying to him, but it is the only way I can be 100% safe in this new city.

"Why'd you come to DC?" He fires another question at me.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. It just felt like the best place to get off the bus. It's been good to me so far, though I have only been here 15 hours." That answer makes me smile.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Shelly come over to us with our drinks. Jethro has a black coffee that makes him relax visibly as soon as he has a sip. I have a milkshake because I felt like it and also because I do not need coffee at this time of night. Even Slayers need sleep.

As soon as Shelly left I knew I was in for the mother of all inquisitions about Slayers.

"So…" he said, obviously trying to figure out where to start. "Oogly-Booglys?"

I laughed. "Everything that goes bump in the night." I told him. "From Vampires o demons, though some are more harmless than others."

"Harmless demons?" he asked me sceptically.

"Some demons want to kill you for fun, some want parts or there's a ritual they want to perform, others don't care about humans one way or another. So long as you don't get in their way, they won't get in yours."

Jethro just looked at me. I think he was a little taken aback by all the information about demons that I was ready and willing to give out. I don't think he had ever had anyone available to give him all this information.

"How did you find out about Vampires anyway?" I asked him back while he was still in his state of shock.

"What?" he asked me suddenly. "Oh. Just after my wife and daughter died I spent a lot of time at the cemetery. If I could've lived there next to their plots I would have, one night a vampire came across me just as I was leaving. I knew he was bad news and I was shocked at how much stronger than me he was but I couldn't believe my eyes when using the only thing I had to defend myself was a stick and shoving it through his chest resulted him falling to the ground in ashes."

I looked at him impressed. He learned in self-defence.

Jethro and I sat in Shelly's café for about an hour, while I filled him in on what exactly a slayer does and the world of vampires and demons. I kept everything simple for him but gave him information that would keep alive if he ever came across anything that needed his attention.

When we were leaving Jethro offered me a ride to where I was staying for which I was grateful for, as I wasn't sure I would be able to find my way back to my hotel on my own. We continued chatting until he pulled up outside my hotel. I went to get out but he stopped me.

"You're staying here?" he asked horrified.

"Have to stay somewhere. Got appointments tomorrow to look at more suitable places, within my budget that is." I told him.

"Buffy, this place isn't safe. I come here investigating murder at least twice every 6 months. I know you can take care of yourself, that's not what I am horrified about. What I am horrified about is that you could get caught up in one of the investigations and that would land you someplace unpleasant."

Oh. I hadn't thought of that.

"I still have to stay somewhere Jethro." I tell him.

"You can stay with me." He tells me.

I look at him for a minute. He is a cop, he is safe. He kind of reminds me of Giles in the 'I'll look after you; make sure you have everything you need' kind of way. Also as he so kindly pointed out I can very much take care of myself and if he tried anything I would be able to put him on his ass faster than he can say "Who Me?".

"Really?" I ask quietly.

"Of course. I would never leave a damsel in distress." He smirks at me.

I laugh at him. "Okay, give me 5 minutes to grab my stuff and settle my bill."


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy reappeared at Jethro's car about 10 minutes later with the bags that she had arrived in DC with. She put them in the car and then got in herself.

"Can't say I'm not glad to be out of that place Jethro, but you really don't have to do this. I would have been alright here."

Jethro started the car and started driving to him place. He glanced at me. "Yeah. But I wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I left you here."

"I don't know how to thank you for this." I told him. I was really glad that I was no longer staying in that dodgy hotel, but I was wondering why he would do that for a complete stranger.

Jethro looked over at me before he started his car.

"You're wondering why, aren't you?" he asked me.

"Yeah." I said quietly.

"Well, there are a couple of reasons really. 1) is that I could never leave anyone in a place like that, not even ex-wife number 3 whom I don't particularly like. 2) you look like you could use a decent night's sleep in a place where you won't have to be alert at the drop of a hot. And then there is number 3) I don't talk about this much, so if you happen to meet some of my friends please don't ask about this, but you remind me of my daughter, she died about 15 years ago and she would be about the same age as you now. It would be nice to have some life in the house again."

I amiled at him. It was completely obvious that he didn't like talking about his family, but he also seemed to be a generally good guy. All my instincts were telling me that I could trust him, that he was a good guy, so I was going to.

"Thank you for telling me that. I promise I'll get a place and be out of your hair as soon as possible."

He turned to look at me, as his hand turned the car on.

"You have a job Buffy, you should be independent, but you don't have to leave until you are ready. You can stay with me for as long as you like. I won't kick you out I promise."

"Really?" I asked in a small voice. I was still raw from what happened with Mom and my friends back in Sunnydale.

"Really." He said with finality as we drove out of the parking lot and towards what I was guessing was his house.

When we got back to his place Jethro showed me his spare room, well my room. It was late so he told me to get some sleep and that he would see me in the morning. I heard him go downstairs as I was getting ready for bed and expected him to come upstairs again soon, but all of a sudden I heard a sound I couldn't distinguish. I went to investigate.

I walked downstairs towards where the sound was coming from and then I saw a door open in Jethro's kitchen. I peeked into the open doorway, but it was kind of dark. I walked in a little further and noticed Jethro sanding down a giant piece of wood.

"Is that a boat?" I asked, wondering who would build a boat in their basement. Jethro apparently.

Jethro looked up at me. Apparently I had managed to sneak up on him.

"Yes, it is." He told me, only faltering on his movements for a second. "What are you doing down here?"

"Oh." I said and turned away. "I can go."

"Buffy." Jethro sighed. "You don't have to leave, I just thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I was just about to get into bed when I heard… whatever you are doing." At his strange look I elaborated. "Slayer hearing. I wondered what it was. Strange noises are never of the good in my line of work. I'll be going now."

"Buffy, do you want to help?"

I was shocked he had asked. This looked like his special project and he was asking me to help.

"Sure." I made my way from the landing I was standing on down the stairs towards Jethro.

"Here." He told me handing me a block of wood covered in sandpaper. "Go with the grain."

"Are you sure?" I asked. It looked like he had out a lot of effort into this boat, I didn't want to be the one to mess it up.

"Buffy, unless you can sand these blocks off in half, there is nothing you can do that I can't correct."

I looked at him wide-eyed. Then I handed him the block of sandpaper.

"You do realise that I can actually do that, right?"

"Oh." He told me, then he got this really happy little smirk on his face. "You're really strong right?"

"Yep." I told him.

"Well, I need to pick up some new supplies soon but it takes forever when I do it by myself, think you might be able to help?"

"Of course. Just tell me when and where and I'll take care of the heavy stuff."

Jethro smiled at me. I don't think he realised how strong I actually was just yet. This would be fun to prove to him, when the time was right of course.

"Buffy," he smiled at me. "Get some sleep. You look exhausted, and I promise I'll go to bed soon you won't hear any strange noises."

I laughed at him. "You should actually get some sleep too. I'll bet you spend your nights falling asleep down here while working on your boat."

From the embarrassed look on his face I was betting I was right.

I stood straight up, put the best glare I could on my face, pointed straight up the stairs and said "Bed."

I actually saw a flicker of fear in his eyes, and I had gotten the impression that he wasn't easily scared. He nodded and I followed him up the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6

I know it was about 1.30am when I went to bed, but when I heard Jethro downstairs in the kitchen at 6am, I was awake and went down to greet him. I also wanted to catch him before he went to work, so I knew where I could and couldn't go throughout the house during the day.

I walked into the kitchen and Jethro looked up at me surprised.

"Buffy, how come you're up so early?" he asked.

"Just woke up. Slayer's don't need a lot of sleep anyway." I shrugged.

He held up the coffee pot as he refilled his cup, silently asking if I wanted some too. I nodded.

"Thanks." I told him as he handed me a cup.

"I'd offer you milk or sugar to go with that, but I don't currently have any. I'll bring some home with me tonight." He told me.

"I can do that today if you like."

"Buffy, I have basically no food in the house. I eat takeout mostly, going to the grocery store isn't going to be a little trip." He told me seriously.

"I can manage." I said. "Besides I have to go and find the demon bar that vamp was talking about last night. Need to get to know the locals."

"You're going to go out again?" Jethro asked me, shocked that I would even consider it, but at the same time I could tell he was sort of impressed that I hadn't let what had happened with the vamps stop me.

"Have to." I told him. "This town has been without a slayer for a long time, I think from what I saw last night, it would do them good for everyone to see what a slayer can manage in a short space of time."

"Okay, if you really think you need to." He told me looking wary about the whole idea.

I smiled at him. Then a thought suddenly popped into my head.

"Do you mind if I cook?" I asked him. "I'm not very good, but sometimes it comes out okay and I've never set the kitchen on fire. I've wanted to learn for so long."

"That would be wonderful." He told me. Then he pulled out his wallet and got some cash out. "Here, get whatever you need from the store and take the spare key from over there on the hook. Would you like to come meet me for lunch?" He asked after pointing to several hooks by the kitchen door that contained labelled key's. One said 'spare'.

"I don't need the money." I told him, "and I would love to meet you for lunch."

Jethro smiles at me as he takes a notepad out and writes down an address and directions from his house to where he works.

"I'm sure Abby and Ducky will be pleased to meet you. Just be prepared for the Spanish inquisition. I don't bring many girls to work." Jethro winked at me, and I knew he was teasing me. It made me feel safe.

"I'm sure it will be fine. Anything in particular you want me to bring for lunch?"

Jethro smiled. "Surprise us."

"How many people do you work with?" I asked, I needed to know who I was bringing lunch for.

"Well, Ducky and Abby obviously. Ducky has an assistant, Jimmy. Then my team consists of Ziva, Tony and Tim. Of course there is Jenny as well, she's my boss."

"Do I get to meet all of them?"

"If you want to." Something seemed to occur to him at that moment. "You're good at fighting right?"

"Yes." I said, equal notes of proudness and scepticism creeping into my voice.

"When you walk into the office, Tony will hit on you immediately. Feel free to knock him on his ass. Repeatedly." He told me with a dry humour that suggested no one had shot him down this way recently.

"Sounds like fun." I told him seriously.

Jethro and I stood in the kitchen looking at each other in an awkward silence for a minute or two. Then Jethro started to talk again.

"I have to go. Remember to come for lunch about 12.30pm. I promise to introduce you to everyone."

I was about to tell him that I would see him then, then something occurred to me.

"What are you going to tell everyone about me? I get the feeling that it isn't every day that you have a random girl show up and bring you lunch?" I asked.

Jethro thought on that for a minute.

"I'll tell them that you are my friend."

I nodded. Jethro cocked his head to the side and looked at me.

"You do realise that I think of you like a daughter, right? That no matter what anyone else thinks, I would rather have you as my friend or daughter than girlfriend. Besides, you're not my type."

I hadn't consciously been thinking about it from that point of view, but I was a little relieved by what he said. Jethro was a great father figure, especially since I hadn't heard from my dad for more than a year but I certainly didn't want anything else from him.

"Thank you." I all but whispered to him.

Jethro walked over to me, and hugged me. As soon as he did that, I hugged him back, hard. I heard his breathing hitch, guess it was a little too hard. I think he guessed that I liked having a father figure again. That was something that I was missing about Sunnydale, Giles. We released each other and I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I said again. "For everything."

"Anytime." He told me, and then he smiled at me and left through the front door.

I decided that a quick shower was in order and then I was going to hunt down a grocery store and find something for lunch for the 9 people that were going to be eating today.


	7. Chapter 7

**Leroy Jethro Gibbs - Point Of View:**

I wondered about Buffy's father as I was driving to work. I got the feeling that he hadn't been around much for her, and I wanted to know why.

There were a lot of things about Buffy that I got a feeling about. I knew that she was a good person, she had gone after vampires to make the city a safer place. There was something off though. Something she hadn't wanted to tell me, and I don't think it was because she thought she couldn't trust me it was because she had been burned before when she told people. At least that is what my gut said.

I was the second person in the office when I arrived, and wasn't surprised to see Ziva sitting at her desk. Did she ever come in after 7.30am? I shook my head and said hello.

Ziva smiled back at me, greeted me warmly and then tilted her head to the side while watching me. I saw her look around the office and notice that it was just us. Curse her and her observational skills. She was the only one who ever noticed something was off when I was trying this hard to hide it.

"Gibbs?" she questioned lightly, knowing that depending on what I was trying to hide I would either bite her head off loudly, shake my head silently or anything in between.

I sighed loudly. "There is a girl coming here to bring us lunch today, when she leaves I want you to tell me everything you noticed about her."

I could tell Ziva was taken aback by what I had said. I knew that she had understood in that sentence what something was bothering me about the girl but I couldn't get a good grasp on it.

"Okay." Ziva told me, though I could see her mind going a mile a minute trying to figure out what was up.

Ziva sat back down and I made my way over to my desk to start my day when I remembered something.

"Ziva?" I asked quietly as I had noticed one or two people arrive.

"Yeah, Gibbs?" she replied looking up at me.

"When she gets here, well, I'm sure you can guess what Tony's reaction is going to be. I think however having her reaction to him would be something that _everyone _would like to be able to see for a long time."

Ziva smiled at the insinuation I had just supplied her with.

"Got it Gibbs. I was wondering if I could get McGee to teach me some of the more in depth functions of the video camera's soon anyway. Today would be perfect."

We heard the elevator ding and McGee walk into the office.

"Yes it would." I told Ziva.

The morning past fairly quickly and before I knew it, it was 12pm and Ziva was getting a very intense looking demonstration on the camera's finer points. I could see Ziva getting more and more excited about the coming prospect on what I had told her earlier, but McGee seemed to think it was because of the camera and his teaching skills. I mentally shook my head. Tech Geek.

Ziva was having fun filming Tony and McGee when my phone rung. Tony, McGee and Ziva all stopped and silently listened as I told the security guards downstairs to let Buffy up. Then I put a call into Abby and Ducky that I would be eating lunch with them in Abby's lab. They both seemed happy.

As soon as the elevator dinged signalling Buffy's arrival I saw Ziva turn the camera on and carefully hold it so as not to alert Tony of its current state.

As soon as Buffy stepped into view I swear that I could see Tony start to drool. I walked over past him, head-slapped him and then went to greet Buffy who was carrying what had to be the largest picnic basket I had ever seen. I went to grab it from her and she past it over, while looking over my shoulder at my team.

"The one drooling?" she whispered quietly.

I had been looking forward to this all morning. I nodded and said a little more loudly "Come and meet my team."

As we started walking towards them I noticed they were all entranced with her, though some for different reasons. Tony was obviously drooling over the blonde Californian; McGee was wondering what she was doing here but Ziva's reaction had me puzzled. She seemed to be both in awe of Buffy and somewhat protective, looking like she wanted to talk to her as soon as possible. I would have to ask about that later.

Before we were even standing in front of the team Tony had stepped up and hand his hand out to greet Buffy.

"Hi, I am Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. I am so pleased to meet you, if you need anything around here please feel free to let me know."

I moved to head slap him, again but Buffy put her hand on my arm and then started to talk to him.

"Awww," she cooed at him. "You're so young; you think you have a chance."

This brought McGee and Ziva out of their stupors, they both tried and failed to hide their snorts of laughter, I didn't even bother trying to hide it.

It threw DiNozzo for a loop though.

"What do you mean young? I'm not much older than you." Tony was desperately trying to gain ground again.

Buffy turned to look at me, I could see she was silently asking if when I had told her to know DiNozzo on his ass I had meant literally. I nodded. Buffy smiled.

Tony's grin got suddenly huge as Buffy reached out to shake the offered hand; no one had time to react when all of a sudden Buffy pulled his arm towards her, to turn him around and then pushed his shoulder hard so that all of a sudden he was sitting on the ground at her feet facing away from her.

Ziva was grinning from ear to ear at having caught that all on tape, McGee looked happy that Tony had finally been put in his place. I grabbed Buffy's shoulder, because while this was fun to watch I didn't want her to damage him too much. He was useful in the field, occasionally.

Buffy let go of his arm and looked over at McGee and Ziva standing there watching. I thought Buffy would be the first to say anything but it wasn't, it was Ziva.

Ziva turned the camera off, placed it on her desk behind her then walked up to Buffy and grabbed her hand.

"Buffy Summers. It is so wonderful to finally meet you; it has been a few years since I met someone… like you. I have to ask, what are you doing in Washington DC? All the reports I have gotten have said that you are missing. Everyone will be so happy to have you back again."

I looked at Buffy, sure that that wasn't the last name that she had given me and from the look on her face I was right. Buffy looked scared, I could see fight or flight mode kicking in pretty fast. She was looking around trying to figure out the easiest way to get out the building.

When I saw her senses lean more towards flight, I noticed that both Ziva and I relaxed. I put my hand Buffy's shoulder and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Ziva!" I snapped. Pushing Buffy in the direction of the elevator. "NOW!"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I just want to say a big THANK YOU SO SUPER MUCH to all the wonderful people who have been following and reviewing this story. You all have no idea how much that means to me. **** To answer the most common question that I receive, I try to have a couple of chapters in reserve before I update and I have been having trouble to try and find the time to sit down and write recently, so I am sorry that I am not updating as much as I should be however this fic is NOWHERE NEAR being abandoned. Promise.  
Just a funny side note, I wanted to re-read this story from beginning the other day and ended up reading it on my phone because I wasn't home. I can see why you are all anxious for the next update, I know what happened after that chapter (and after this one Muhahahah. Sorry. I couldn't help myself :\ Moving on.) and I was like… I NEED TO KNOW MORE! That'll teach me to read my own fanficiton on my phone. Bright side, I had a great idea of a plot twist for like chapter 13 so stay tuned…. :P  
I LOVE YOU ALL MY READERS. YOU ARE AMAZING! I am now going to put my plot twist into action. Laters.**

Buffy Point of View.

I snapped out of the trace like state when I heard the bell that signalled the elevator had come to the floor. I noticed Jethro push me in and Ziva follow behind, when we were all in the elevator Jethro pushed the button to make it move. Before the doors even started closing I rounded on Ziva.

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" I yelled at her.

I vaguely heard the other two members of the team draw in breath from their position at their desks in the office, and then the elevator doors closed.

Ziva stood there looked at me, slightly stunned for a minute. Just long enough for the elevator to move slightly and Jethro to push the emergency stop lever.

"I believe she asked you a question Ziva." I wasn't watching Jethro's face as he spoke to this Ziva person but I heard in his voice that he wasn't happy, and from the way she flinched I knew that having her boss mad at her wasn't a normal thing and also that she knew I was the slayer, though that was sort of obvious from what she had said earlier.

Ziva looked from me to Jethro and back again a couple of times. I knew she was trying to figure out what she could say in front of her boss. I kind of took pity on her in that respect.

"If you know what I think you know then he knows too." I told her in a tone that suggested that I was only helping her out because I wanted to get to the bottom of this issue.

Ziva looked confused for a minute then her face shot straight towards Jethro.

"You know about Slayers?" She asked him, what I couldn't figure out was why she was so horrified at this prospect.

"I believe," I pointed out to Ziva in a tone that brokered no argument on what the topic of conversation here really was. "That I will be the one asking questions at the moment. How do you know who I am? Why do you think I am missing? Why on earth did you have to use my full name, and are you going to tell anyone where I am?"

I could tell through Jethro's reaction of the squeeze on the shoulder that my voice had probably started to crack on the last couple of questions but I was still mad and scared about what was happening. I had only met Jethro yesterday, if he found out that I lied to him then he was well within his rights to kick me out and after everything that had happened recently I just don't think that I could take that.

"My name is Ziva David (Dah-ved) and I work for Mossad. It is part of our training that we know who the current slayer is and any information about her. Israel has a rather active nightlife which has helped Mossad and The Watcher's Council build strong relations over the years. I get a status report on anything crucial to the Slayer about once a week, this always includes a picture. The last one I got was 3 days ago and it said that you had fought with a very powerful vampire and had gone missing after killing him. No one thinks you are dead though, because the power that connects you to your watcher is still active. If anyone finds out that I knew where you were and didn't report it I would be in a lot of trouble, not as much trouble as I would be if what happened a couple of months ago got out," Ziva threw a pointed look at Jethro. "But enough trouble that things wouldn't be good, however if you don't want me to I will not tell anyone where you are."

When Ziva finished her speech I found myself relaxing just a little. Jethro seemed to let a breath out when she talked about trouble and secrets. I idly wondered what was up with that, but I figured now wasn't the best time to ask. I was just started to breath normally again when I felt Jethro gently turn me so I was facing him.

"Why didn't you tell me what your real name was?" his tone was gentle and caring and I just couldn't help it, I burst into tears.

Jethro pulled me to him and just held me while I let it all out. Eventually I managed to stop crying, step away and look at him.

"My 17th birthday wasn't fun. It contained monsters and a lot of running, there were parts of that night that I was sure I wasn't going to survive let alone what was going to happen to my friends. When it was finally over all I wanted was to be comforted by someone I knew understood how I would have felt had no one survived what was going on, my boyfriend. We ended up at his place and well…" I stopped for a minute trying to think of a euphemism that would tell them what happened without me actually telling them. "Anyway, I fell asleep and I didn't really know what was happening until I woke up the next morning and something was off with my boyfriend but I didn't know what. My boyfriend's name was Angel, but Ziva here probably knows him as Angelus or The Scrouge of Europe." I heard Ziva take in a sharp breath, I knew then that she had put some of the pieces together but not all. "He was a vampire, but when I met him he had a soul. It turns out one moment of true happiness makes him lose his soul; guess what his moment of true happiness was? He went on a mega killing spree around town; he attacked my mother, killed one of 2 teachers that I actually liked at my school who happened to be the new girlfriend of the other teacher I liked and attacked him. Right before I killed him my best friend who is a pretty powerful but slightly novice witch managed to restore his soul, but not before this portal thingy was opened and the only way to close it was to send him through it. He had killed the other slayer, Kendra who had come to help with Angelus and I was a murder suspect. I got kicked out of school and I had to tell my mother why, her reaction was to kick me out of the house. After everything ended I just had to leave, I couldn't take hurting my friends anymore. I left and I arrived here after 5 days on a bus."

I was crying again, but I was happy that I had told my story to Jethro. He seemed like a really nice guy, even though he was a cop. I just hoped that he believed me.

I looked up into his face and saw him give me a sad smile. Then he pulled me into a big bear hug.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ziva Point of View**

I instantly felt sorry for Buffy, her life wasn't unlike mine. Although at least she had had a normal and fun childhood until she had turned 15. Some people were luckier than others. I looked at Gibbs and I knew that he knew I was sorry for what I had done to Buffy. I don't know what had made me react that way back in the bullpen but I had been excited to meet her, it had been so long since I had met a slayer. I noticed Gibbs flip the switch to make the cart move towards the office. I knew that this was him kicking me off so that he could talk to Buffy, and I wasn't unhappy with that move. I also know that this was him giving me a chance to make it up to Buffy by threatening Tony and McGee if they even looked at her wrong.

When I doors opened I nodded at Gibbs who was still holding Buffy to him tightly, I could tell they both knew that Buffy would easily put him on his ass if what was going on wasn't wanted but Buffy needed the comfort and Gibbs needed someone to take care of, they were a perfect match.

I walked slowly over to Tony and Tim and noticed them snap to when they saw me and noticed that Gibbs was still in the elevator with Buffy. It wasn't until I got closer that I noticed Jen sitting in Gibbs' chair. I knew she was looking for a reaction but after this morning she probably wasn't going to get one.

"Ziva!" Tony cried at me. "Who is she? How did she put me on my ass like that? That hurt by the way! Where's Gibbs? What's going on? Is she in trouble?"

I looked at Tony and Tim. While I wanted to tell them to stop thinking about what had happened I also knew that this was going to come better from the director. I turned to Jen.

"Do you remember the story I used to tell you about The Girl? The chosen one?"

Jen instantly sat up in Gibbs' chair. "Yes?"

"Gibbs met her yesterday, I don't know the full story but I know why she is in DC and she is running from… well actually I think she is running from everything at the moment, I will get Gibbs and Buffy to tell you themselves the details but for now can you make an official order to those 2 that this is confidential and they are not under any circumstances to go looking into Buffy. I don't feel like dealing with those council idiots at the moment, even though you haven't me them yet I doubt you do either."

Jen paled a little. Even though she had had definitive proof that the monsters The Girl was created to fight was real I don't she had even believed me about the stories about The Girl.

"You heard her." Jen barked at Tim and Tony authoritively. "No questions, no background checks, no nothing. Got it?"

Tim and Tony were a little shocked by her tone of voice and the fact that she looked a little scared. They nodded, anything to keep their boss' boss happy.

Just then Gibbs and Buffy came out of the elevator. I could see that both Tim and Tony were having trouble keeping their mouths shut but at least they were trying. While Tim usually wasn't one to insert himself into someone's personal space he was the more inquisitive one of the 2 today as Tony had already had a practical demonstration on what Buffy would do to him when she wasn't happy. I didn't think Tony was eager to repeat that experience.

As they entered our area Gibbs picked up the picnic basket that Buffy had bought in, he had left it on my desk as he taken Buffy and I to the elevator. I walked up to them.

"I asked Jen to issue the order that McGee and DiNozzo weren't allowed to ask questions. She knows a bit about the issues surrounding this but doesn't know much about Buffy's role specifically, I think she thought that was more of an urban legend when I would tell her about that. You should tell her what's going on, she can help but you don't have to. She knows enough about the situation to know not to ask questions."

I saw Buffy look between Jen who was behind me, me and Gibbs.

"Can we have lunch first?" She asked Gibbs. "I've been looking forward to it all day, I bought enough for everyone."

I saw Gibbs nod and then smirk when he noticed that Tony's expression changed from wary around the blonde to drooling once again, only this time it wasn't over her looks.

"Come on." Gibbs told everyone as he started walking away, towards the elevator. "We'll eat in Abby's lab. She and Ducky are waiting for us anyway."

Jen, Tim and Tony followed Gibbs almost immediately but Buffy stayed back. I knew instantly from the way she was looking at me that she wanted to talk to me.

"He told me what you did for him, why he trusts you. He said that I needed to know because even though you would be in trouble for hiding me we all know that I would be the one who would be worse off, and that I needed something that I could hold over you but he said that I would almost never have to use it that it was just for my piece of mind."

Buffy looked thoughtful for a moment. I couldn't tell if she was thinking about what to say next or giving me time to digest what she was telling me, we slowly started making our way to the elevator and just before we got there she started talking again only a little quitter.

"Ziva? What do you know about the nightlife here?"

"Not much. I know there are a couple good bars around here but honestly I haven't had much time to investigate. I know that the council sends people to look into that sort of stuff every now and then. Why?"

"I got the name of a local bar from the… well from someone; I know you're not me in the 'going looking for a fight' sense but it can be a good time to talk, do you want to come with me tonight?"

Buffy and I entered the elevator that Gibbs was holding for us. I could tell Tim and Tony were confused about what we were talking about, while Gibbs was trying not to show his smile as he obviously knew what Buffy wanted to talk to me about.

"If we don't get a case, I would love to. Maybe my boss will even give me the morning off as he knows what we will be doing and how late we will be out."

"Sure Ziva." Gibbs told me trying to hide a chuckle. I knew that he was only saying that to annoy Tim and Tony, because we both knew that I wouldn't come to work late ever.

"BOSS!" Tony exclaimed outraged. "You're giving her permission to go out clubbing?"

Tim looked a bit put out but he wasn't going to say anything.

I heard a loud clap and Tony's muttered "Thanks boss."

"I am not going clubbing with Buffy, Tony. We are going to show the nightlife of DC whose boss."

I heard Tony's "huh?" but choose not to pay attention to it and Buffy suddenly let out a laugh, just a the elevator doors opened to the floor of Abby's lab.


	10. Chapter 10

**Buffy Point of View**

I was the first one to enter the lab, and I instantly took note of how wonderful this was. Willow would be in heaven. That was when I noticed the noise. It was ear splitting metal. Not my sort of music at all, but whatever. I watched Jethro walk over through some other doors while everyone just stood there and waited for him. He reached up and turned the music off and everyone gave a quiet sigh of relief.

Jethro waved someone over with an "Abbs!" as he came to stand with me, obviously hoping to introduce me to his friend.

"Abby, this is Buffy." He told her and she came round the corner. "Buffy this is…"

Jethro didn't even get to finish his sentence as I had caught a good look at Abby let out a scream and hid behind Jethro. I wasn't ashamed to admit I was scared, and whoever this Abby person she obviously trusted Jethro and probably wouldn't hurt him to get to me.

"Abby…" Jethro trailed off, then turned around to look at me.

"You want to explain this one quickly, I thought we wanted lunch."

I looked at him.

"She's a Goth, yes?"

I heard everyone in the room take in a sharp breath, including Ziva.

"Yes." I heard the tense reply in Jethro's voice. "Problem?"

I think I shocked everyone in the room with my answer.

"Promise she won't try to kill me? I don't think I can deal with that today."

Jethro just stared at me for a minute. I could see he was trying to figure out how to ask the question he wanted to ask without letting too much information slip.

I was surprised when it wasn't Jethro who spoke first, but the lady who I assumed was his boss Jenny.

"That happened before?"

I turned to look at her fully.

"I used to have nothing against Goth's back in LA, one of my best friends was a Goth and was awesome but when I moved another friend ended up moving to the same place I was. He started hanging with a crowd of Goth's and at first I thought nothing of it, but it wasn't the basic black makeup stuff it was worshipping death and wanting to die… in a specific way." I said that last part pointedly so that Jethro and Ziva would understand, then they paled slightly I knew they knew. "When his friends found out that I knew they tried to kill me. Most of them were taken care of by… the local police but some got away and every now and then they pop up out of the woodwork just to try and kill me. It's not all that fun."

Jethro placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and Ziva came over to me.

"You know that my organisation helps the council in protecting you right?"

I nodded as the 2 boys in the room, Tim and Tony I think looked super confused at that sentence.

"Then know that I would never let Abby hurt you. She is an amazing person, she is happy, fun and bubbly and while she likes black and some of the stuff that comes with it I honestly do not think she is into death the way those people were."

I looked up at her. "Really?"

Ziva didn't answer me; she just grabbed my hand lightly and pulled me around Jethro to face Abby.

I knew I looked scared to her, but I really wasn't in the mood to have someone kill me at the moment, and I didn't want to have to fight her at the moment I wasn't on my A game and I knew it.

"Buffy, this is Abby." Ziva told me, while pulling my hand out so that I could shake Abby's. "Trust your senses, Buffy. Do they say that Abby is a threat?"

I thought about it for a minute. I had been so caught up in my emotions that I hadn't once thought about trusting my senses.

I shook my head, still weary. I had been hurt too many times by that cult to let my guard down just yet.

Abby shook my hand gently, I could tell by the look on her face that she was really shocked that people would want to kill me.

"Hi, I'm Abby. I'm nice, I promise I won't try to kill you well unless you hurt Gibbs or Ziva or any of the team then my standard threat is to kill you without leaving any forensic evidence because I can do that you 'know because of my job. I'm a forensic specialist here at NCIS. I really love my job, and the science and I don't like death like everyone thinks that Goth's do I promise."

"Woah." I muttered loudly, then I think I shocked everyone by laughing.

"You know what Abby." I told her between laughs. "I think you and I might be great friends, where'd you learn the art of willow babble?"

"Willow babble?" Abby asked confused.

"Sorry, my best friend back home does that. We call it Willow babble, because we have never met anyone else who is able to do it so well."

"I'm special." Abby told me, "Here, hold Burt. You look sad and scared and from what you said earlier I do kind of understand. I don't like it when people try to kill me either."

I got this stuff hippo shoved at me, and I vaguely noticed Jethro going through the picnic basket behind me now that my problem with Abby had been resolved. When I squeezed it however I jumped as it farted. I went red instantly.

"Sorry." I muttered to the room. Then I spoke to Abby. "People try to kill me all the time, it's like this never ending horror movie and after a while you just get used to it. I just don't like the cult trying to kill me because it brings back memories of Ford, and that was what was the hardest about that."

I noticed everyone looked up at me sharply.

"People try to kill you all the time?" One of the boys asked. It was the one that I put on the floor earlier. Tony. "Why?"

"I have a gift, if certain people kill me they become heroes in their own little community and that's enough incentive for them to at least give it a try. Most of them die trying, but I wouldn't be me if they never succeeded. To me an average part of my… day is having someone try to kill me."

"Or try to destroy the world" I muttered quietly so that only Ziva and Jethro whom I was standing next to heard me.

"Really?" I heard from various members of the team that was standing in the lab.

"It's my life, I just got to learn to live with it. Especially if I ever want to turn 18. Though after my 17th birthday, I don't think I want another birthday."

"Why?"

This guy just never knew when to shut up.

"Because if it wasn't for events that happened on my 17th birthday, I wouldn't be here right now. I would be at home with my Mom, Kendra would still be alive and so would my boyfriend."

I looked down at the floor. I didn't want to cry in front of these people anymore. I felt Jethro come up and hug me again.

"Buffy." He said seriously. "From what you told me about your 17th birthday, if what happened hadn't happened that night would you have done that some other time."

"Probably" I muttered

"Well then, the only thing you would have succeeded in doing if you hadn't done that on your birthday would be not having horrible memories of your birthday."

I smiled and thanked Jethro. He was fast becoming my favourite person on the planet.

"Let's eat." I told everyone and they all listened happily.


End file.
